30 Tips to Help You Make Your First Zero-Budget Short Film

1. Don't say it's unpaid. Say it's a collaboration. And don't just say it, mean it. You're collaborating together to create a piece of art out of whatever means you have.

2. Think of every single place you know that you have access to that could be a location. Think about this before the script stage. Your cousin is an office manager? Your Uncle owns a taxi? Your ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend lives in a mansion? Utilise these locations in your script/film.

3. Find creative people who will get something out of your project. Your friend is an artist? Ask if she wants to design DVD covers. Your Brother wants to be a singer? Get him to sing a song about the movie and post it on YouTube to promote the project. 

4. Related to the point above -- don't do it all yourself. Part of doing a zero-budget film is that you do need to do a lot of it yourself; but delegate! Find other creative people who want to get involved. 

5. Be confident. It's your piece of art. It doesn't have to be a masterpiece, and you don't need to be intimidated by anyone -- this is your chance to create something personal.

6. Create something personal. Write from the heart. 

7. Write to your budget. No explosions, no car chases, no burning down buildings. 

8. If you know people who can stage explosions, car chases and buildings burning down, then by all means use them if it'll help your story (but don't break any laws and don't kill any people, not even actors).

9. Don't be afraid of actors just because it's your first movie. They need the roles, otherwise they wouldn't do it! And most of them -- some of them -- are very friendly people. 

10. Cast interesting and intriguing actors. There's only so much time in a short film to tell a story; so tell some of the story through the interesting faces you present on screen. 

11. Don't hire heaps of lights and things with cables and buttons that you don't understand. Focus on telling a story. 

12. Shoot without permission. Tell people you're students, tell people you're just taking a picture, tell people you're not filming-just-pretending-to. Or my old favourite, you say, "We are thinking about doing a film so we're just coming here to test out the light and see if it's workable". 

For some reason, people will stop you from filming but they won't stop you from filming-to-see-if-it's-the-right-place-to-film. This really works!

13. Don't spend all day getting every single angle conceivable. Think about the story you're telling -- storyboard if it helps you --- think about shooting scenes creatively in ways that support your vision, rather than covering absolutely everything ten times over. 

14. Get a few takes and then move on. 

15. Start early. Don't feel bad about it. Everyone wants to make a movie so get them up early and crack on. 

16. If on day two, your actor has quit -- don't keep ringing them up, demanding they return. At the level you're at --- justified or not-- actors will go for paid work instead, or they'll think you're amateur, or they'll be lazy and stay home. Y'know what? It's happened to everyone, find a way to keep telling your story. 

17. It's not just actors. It could be anyone. If it's YOUR MOVIE, it's going to mean more to you than the others -- so you gotta do whatever you gotta do to make it happen. 

18. If someone is working exceptionally hard to help you with YOUR VISION; then treat them to something. A chocolate bar. A bunch of flowers. A new house. Whatever you can afford. These people are extremely rare. 

19. Find lovely people to work with. 

20. Don't get stressed. 

Okay, you will get stressed. But don't drag it on for hours. 

Maybe the sound guy was late. Maybe the camera is broken. Maybe the building exploded at the wrong moment. 

But what are you going to do? Moaning and stressing doesn't bring a solution. You need to focus on finding solutions to problems as they arise. 

Sometimes we get caught up in rehashing the same old problems. Telling each person, one-by-one, oh how badly we were let down by someone or something -- but it solves nothing! Be a pro. Move on. 

21. Don't have friends on set just to have friends on set. They'll get in the way. 

22. If you have friends helping you out on the crew --- then you need to be very careful about which friends you choose. 

Explain to them exactly what they'll be doing, and let them know precisely how boring it will be. Everyone loves the idea of working on a movie, but after three days in which they've done nothing but hold a boom pole, they get bored. And then that darn pole keeps dipping into the shot.

You need people who are committed. 

23. If you have scenes where characters are eating food -- build your lunch breaks around it, so that the actors are working and eating. It saves time and money. Don't tell the actors you're doing this, they'll get grumpy. 

24. Feed everyone well -- but keep it cheap. Try make it hot if you can. Everyone likes Pasta. 

25. Do not fall in love with cast members or crew members, because if they fall in love with someone else during the production, your whole brain goes funny and your feet keep forgetting where the floor is. 

This is not a good state of mind for a director. 

26. Give praise! These people are giving their time for nothing; working as hard as they can -- and they're just as insecure as you are. Giving them specific and honest praise will help them, and the set will become rather pleasant and productive-- which is what you want, right? 

27. Ignore the temptation to say, "Well we're not far behind --- how about if we wrap now and pick up the rest when we finish tomorrow?"

That's a bad idea. Do it now. Ignore the tiredness. 

28. Ignore the tiredness -- you're making a movie! Have some caffeine and go go go make it happen --- yawn when no-one is looking--- then go go go again. 

29. Tell people every four minutes that the lights are hot; because they keep forgetting and keep burning their hands. We don't know why they do that but they do. 

30. Enjoy it. You're MAKING A FILM!!!!


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30 Tips To Get You Writing Your Screenplay

1. Set a timer on your phone. Let's say an hour. Sit and don't do anything for that hour. Don't look at your phone again, don't turn on the TV. Don't tweet. It's just you and the chair. Don't write down ideas that come to you, don't do anything. Sit, think, dream. But no action. 

As creative people we often snap into action the second we feel we have a seed of an idea. So often, it's a false alarm, a restless brain. Take the time to sit with your ideas. If you want to write them down, tough. Not during this hour. 

2. Write a feature film in less than an hour, by outlining it scene by scene as it comes into your brain. Like this:

MARK is at the office, bored and depressed. 

SALLY is working a double shift at the cake shop. She hates it. 

MARK walks into the CAKE shop. He's depressed. SALLY tells him to buy a cake. He does so.

MARK walks out of the store, wishing he'd got her number. 

The cake shop EXPLODES. 

MARK sprints inside, he hunts for SALLY in between the flames. 

The example above is me being silly -- that wouldn't make a good film at all. But a good shortcut with writing is just to outline ideas as they come to you. To throw caution to the wind. Don't write a masterpiece, just find the next sentence. 

Before you know it, you've outlined a whole movie. If it sucks, who cares? You've lost nothing but an hour or two. If it's good? Go back to it and build from it. 

3. Write a bad script. Even if your ideas are AWFUL, or NON-EXISTENT, write it anyway. You'll learn from it. Some people spend five years writing no scripts because their ideas aren't good enough. But in fact, if you wrote 15 bad scripts in that time, you'd learn so much about yourself and your writing. 

4. Quit. Go do something else. Become a shepherd, get into a relationship with a trout. If you quit for good, then it probably wasn't for you -- but if you come back to it some day, then maybe the break is exactly what you needed. Some people write their masterpieces in their 70's. Some people have great talent, but have nothing to say. Rather than sitting in your room trying to force a script out, go volunteer in Africa. Go visit a friend in France. Anything is better than sitting around not writing. 

5. Be around people who make you laugh. 

6. Do things that make you uncomfortable. Just past your comfort zone is where you have the interesting experiences, and meet people that you didn't think you'd ever come across. 

7. When a friend asks you to do something that you don't want to do --- instead of making the excuse that you're tired, or have work in the morning, say 'yes' to the offer and go and do the thing you don't want to do. 

8. Work on the script that's been circling around your brain since you were 13. You know the one; the script you've been destined to write because it's so personal yet have always stayed away from because you don't have enough clarity. Attack it like you know exactly what to write. And guess what, you do know how to write it, you're just a scaredy cat. That's right. 

9. Realise your inner-critic has absolutely no jurisdiction over your life. What has it ever done? All it does is shout at you from some self-righteous position within your own brain. Tell it to go for a long walk. You can actually train yourself to listen to your inner-critic. You'll actually hear that voice in you that says, "you suck, you're a fraud, you have no talent", or maybe it's worse, maybe it says, "your parents were right, you're a waster, and your girlfriends that dumped you had the right idea too....". 

Stop and think for a minute. With that voice in your head, you'll never get any work done.

You have to understand that the inner-critic is there to save you from perceived threats, from embarrassing yourself. But when you're 89 and dead, you won't regret being embarrassed. But you will regret not writing a script because some bitch on Facebook thought you had no talent, and you'll regret not sending your script to a producer just because an inner voice said you're talentless. 

Get your act together and stop listening to that bullshit. It's nonsense. 

10. Take a moment to look around, breath; and realise that it's only screenwriting. It's make-believe, a bit of fun. 

11. If you're stuck on a particular script, then write some random scenes for fun. For example, if you're writing a tense FBI thriller; write a scene where your characters are at the zoo for no reason. When your FBI agents and detectives are taken out of their context, and find themselves at a zoo for no reason other than to look at penguins, you'll find yourself amused by them, and you'll see them in a different light. 

It doesn't have to be the zoo. It can be anywhere. Just take your characters out of the story and write a random scene for fun. 

12. Stop asking for people's opinions every five minutes. A lot of people out there will stop you from writing. Sometimes it's jealousy or competitiveness, but mostly it's because --- all people have different ideas. Writing is about having your own ideas, your own vision. EVERYONE THINKS THEY KNOW what a good story is, EVERYONE. Why? Nobody knows. But people will talk you out of anything. 

STEPHEN KING 

I want to write a story about two guys in a prison called Shawshank. It's about hope, and friendship.

BOB

I can't see how that would work.

STEPHEN KING

It'll be great. 

BOB 

No Stephen. A story needs something more interesting -- like a love interest, or maybe a conspiracy at the prison --- maybe, I know, maybe one of the inmates is a former boxer with a drug addiction who wants to join the CIA. 

This is what people are like! They're mental! They think your ideas suck. And even when they think they're good, they'll still offer suggestions! And these things throw you -- because some people can speak so authoritatively. 

Stop asking for opinions and get writing, get it done. 

13. Shut up. Sit down. Write. 

14. Write about the personal stuff. The insecurity you feel when you're around people who intimidate you, or the confidence you feel when you're doing what you love, or the heartbreaks you felt when people left you. I know that stuff is painful, but it's where the gold is. It's where you have to mine for insight. Your experiences are PERSONAL. They're YOUR OWN. But they're also universal. 

If you're not sharing who you really are, then you're not doing a good job. 

15. Get dumped. 

16. Dump someone. 

17. Dump someone. Get back with them. Dump them again. Get into an argument. Propose to them. Make them cry. Get beaten up by their family. 

All that stuff helps. Creativity comes from chaos. 

18. But you can't be your most creative in the midst of chaos. You need to find your place. Your room. Your ocean. Your garden. Wherever it is. You need to find your place where the omens are good, where the world says "Write, and be yourself!" Stop making excuses and make sure you go there to do your work. 

19. Come on, get off of Twitter. Leave Facebook alone. 

"@kidinfrontrow is five pages into my screenplay, YAY."

Who cares? No-one. Don't go for short and quick gratification. Save it for when you can say "I WROTE THE WHOLE BLOODY THING! YEAH!"

Social networks are a distraction. They have their purpose, sure, but they don't help you get into your imagination. Study after study has shown that these distractions stop us from focusing. Neuroscience has proved that we can't multitask, that it takes 25 minutes to refocus after a distraction. 

You can be the exception to the rule if you want, but instead I think you should shut out the distractions and focus on your writing. 

20. Think about dying. Will you say "I wish I had tweeted more", or maybe, "I wish I had done more browsing on the internet of a morning". Or will you wish you had spent more time on your passion, writing? 

21. Realise that your script doesn't have to be perfect. People get huge writers block due to perfectionism. Some of the most imperfect things can be perfect. The mistakes can resonate with people. Don't waste your time fearing it's not the best it can be. Just do what you can, then let go. 

22. Reconnect with an old friend. The one you haven't seen in seven years, who six months ago you emailed about catching up. There's something in those old friendships that, when you re-connect with them, they open up parts of you that you forgot about. There's something warm and exciting about rediscovering who you were and where you've come from. Again, this stuff is a Godsend, writing-wise. 

23. Read/Watch/Study your guilty pleasures. Because they're the things you really love. They hold the key to who you are and what you want to write about. 

24. Use a pen and paper. 

25. Go for a run. Do it regularly. It's good for your health, good for your memory, good for creative ideas, good in every single way. 

26. Get a pad and paper and just write. Write nonsense! Write anything. Just make sure words come out. It's like clearing out the trash --- eventually patterns will form, things will link up -- within the randomness, there'll be a message. 

27. Surround yourself with positive influences. Hang out with friends who love that you're a writer, watch YouTube videos of people who inspire you. Watch movies that you love. Have adventures with people who make you laugh. 

Writing is tough. It's hard work. It's gruelling and there will be so many things in the world that say "you're not good enough", and "you'll never make it!" You have to overcome these by yourself, but it helps to be surrounded by good people who believe in you. 

28. Figure out when you write the best. Is it early in the morning? Is it at night after everyone is asleep? Is it in the afternoon when you're fully awake? 

Think about your eating habits too. Does caffeine make you more, or less creative? Does pasta make you tired? Do you keep getting ideas after eating chocolate? 

Don't get too obsessed with this stuff, but look for patterns. 

29. Find your own voice. 

You do this by writing. A lot. 

And don't be afraid of your influences. Embrace them. You'll sound like them at first, but eventually you'll find your own way. It's all part of the journey. 

30. Realise it's a journey. A long and winding road, full of ups and downs. You have scripts you haven't written yet that will ABSOLUTELY SUCK.

But that's what it is to be a writer. 

Sometimes nobody believes in you, and your shitty writing proves them absolutely right. 

Until you get up again, write something new, and improve a little. 

Bit by bit, day by day. You keep writing. 

You keep finding your voice. 

Write, write, write. 

And enjoy it. Because, as I said, it's a journey.

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The Dewey Bozella Story - MUST SEE!

You think you've had a hard time following your dreams? You think you've suffered for your art? You don't know shit!

Dewey Bozella spent 26 years in jail for murder. Not only that but, he was innocent! Did he get a fair trial? No! Was the evidence enough to convict him? No! Was there any evidence at all? NO! Just the words of another felon who framed him.

You gotta watch the video I put at the top of the page. This is what it is to suffer! To have your dreams taken away. There's no hope in prison. Not when you're sent down for life, for a crime you didn't commit. That's exactly what an all-white jury did in 1983.

After six years inside, an appeal court ruled that the initial trial's jury selection was fraught with racism: all African Americans were barred from being on the jury. Well if that's not racism, I don't know what is! What are we meant to take from that; that black people can't tell right from wrong when a black man takes the stand? If you buy that, then you support the idea that there should be no white people whenever a white person is on the stand!

What do you do when you're in prison for your LIFETIME for a crime you didn't commit? You give up, you lose hope! That is unless you find SOMETHING. Dewey Bozella found it: Boxing.

My brother is obsessed with boxing. With me, it's writing and creativity. That's where I learn about discipline, hope, expression. But my bro gets it from boxing. It was him who demanded I watch this film. That's the thing, sure, boxing is brutal. But so is life! Why do you think they make so many movies about the sport? It's because all of life is contained within it! Anything you wanna achieve, boxing shows you how.

Dewey faced all the blocks that people face in movies, the kind of blocks that seem so unrealistic and forced --- but here we see how real they are! Racism, burned evidence, lawyers offering unethical deals. Everything!

Bozella stayed strong. He wrote to The Innocence Project once a week. Remember when Andy did that in 'Shawshank Redemption'? It worked here too. It took four years, but eventually they took up his case. That's when they found that all the evidence had been destroyed. But together with a team of lawyers and the unwavering love of his wife, Trena, they didn't give up fighting. Meanwhile, Dewey's attitude in the ring was exactly the same. In the Sing Sing Correctional Facility he became the light heavyweight champion. He had the talent, the strength, the determination; what would his life have been if he'd not had everything stripped away from him?

How many people give up after someone tells them their script sucks? Or that their acting 'needs some work'? This documentary reminds us - don't let the roadblocks stop you.

In October 2009, he was released. A free man.

Wow. 26 years for a crime you didn't commit. Can you imagine? Being labelled a murderer for all that time? Being stuck inside four walls for all of your adult life?

Incredibly, Bozella had the mental toughness to forgive the courts and lawyers who'd sent him away for so long.

"The prosecution and the police, I'm gonna let it go -- cause I gotta get on with my life. If I worry about what they did, I'll never get where I gotta go."

That's coming from a guy who spent 26 years in jail. If that's not wisdom then I don't know what is. Forget your Marilyn Monroe quotes for a minute and listen to Dewey Bozella.

Physical freedom wasn't enough for him, he needed to see it in action. He had a dream to complete: to become a professional boxer. The problem is, you need to get a license first, and he was 52 years old. No-one over 50 had ever done it before. Give up? Quit? I think you know the answer.

But they turned him down. Said he was too slow in the sparring test, his reactions weren't quick enough. That's when he said the unthinkable, "It's over".

But his wife Trena Bozella would hear none of it. And that's what you need to succeed, a support system. Sure, his mental strength played a huge part, but his wife, his lawyers, the boxing trainers, they all factored in. You don't get nowhere on your own.

You want to see pain? You want to see someone who's seen how harsh life can be? Then make sure you get to the 29 minute mark on this documentary. The licensing committee have turned him down, his dreams crushed, AGAIN. An outside force, yet again --another jury-- telling him NO. Look at the pain, the anger, the passion, as he screams down the phone.

"It hurts, man, it hurts! You taken away my dream! You taken away the only thing I got left!"

THIS IS THE POINT WHERE EVERYONE GIVES UP. In fact, it's about 200 stages past where everyone gives up.

But of course no, he didn't. He didn't have quitting in him, and neither did Trena.

He went to Philadelphia to train with Bernard Hopkins, who'd also been in prison and went on to become a professional boxing champion. So Hopkins trained him. This is when Bozella REALLY learned what it was to be a boxer. And he only had ONE MONTH before he had to be back to re-try for his license.

"I thought I knew something about training. I found out -- please-- I was WAY OFF!"

That's another lesson for the amateurs. DON'T ASSUME YOU KNOW EVERYTHING! You know NOTHING! Keep training, keep learning, it takes so much more than you imagine. Bozella had been through EVERYTHING, and then, after all that, after 26 years of fighting the system - it was only now that he got the skill and nuance and fitness to really be what he was: a boxer.

He got his license. He had a professional fight. I don't want to give the whole story away, because this documentary deserves to be watched, and luckily the whole thing is on YouTube. You can see it at the top of this article.

Dewey Bozella shows us precisely what it takes to make it. And I'm pretty sure he's had it harder than you.

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BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN @ SXSW - The Keynote Address will BLOW YOUR MIND

Thank you, SXSW.

I'm blown away by this. How often do we get this much access to the greatest artists? Hardly ever. And wow, he's so human.

When I speak passionately about Springsteen, people often disregard it; they don't like his music. Fine, maybe his music isn't for you--- in fact, he talks about that exact thing. Shit, he talks about EVERYTHING in this address. Anything that you've ever thought or felt as a creative person, Bruce has it covered in this speech.

It's 52 minutes. That's long, I know. And after six or seven minutes you'll have stamina issues, you'll wonder if you can make it. But just do this one thing for me, please, watch it. 

You think these big rock stars are just guys who got lucky, who had a hit record once. But LISTEN TO HIM, he knows EVERYTHING, about EVERY genre of music. He digs it. He loves it. The passion drives him. There's no way this guy could have NOT succeeded. There's no-one like this.

I wish I had what he has. Truth is, sometimes films just piss me off and I wanna run away and give it all up. But then, how can any of us compare ourselves to someone like The Boss? 

His level of expertise, care and humanity is just mind-blowing. I've never seen anything like this speech. He knows music, the history of it, the evolution. This is what it takes if you really wanna make it. 

I think what he speaks about here has relevance for everyone who calls themselves an artist. 

"By the time I reached my twenties, I'd spent a thousand nights employing their lessons in local clubs and bars, honing my own skills."

-Bruce Springsteen

He ain't exaggerating. A thousand nights, that's what it takes. That's not rehearsals and practising at home. That's a thousand nights in front of an audience. The Beatles and Stones did that too. What's the equivalent for you with your art?

You can say you don't like Springsteen's music, but you can't deny his achievements and WHY they happened. The path to being an artist has rarely been explained with as much clarity as in this video. Watch it. Trust me, you'll be better for it.
 

 "Rumble young musicians rumble. 

Open your ears and open your hearts.

Don't take yourself too seriously.

And take yourself as seriously as death itself. 

Don't worry.

Worry your ass off.

Have iron-clad confidence.

But doubt, it keeps you awake and alert.

Believe you are the baddest ass in town.

And....

YOU SUCK!

It keeps you honest, it keeps you honest.

Be able to keep two completely contradictory ideas alive and well inside of your heart and head at all times.

If it doesn't drive you crazy,

It will make you strong.

And stay hard.

Stay hungry.

And stay alive.

And when you walk on stage tonight.

To bring the noise.

Treat it like it's all we have.

And then remember,

It's only rock 'n roll. 

I think I may go out and catch a little black death metal, thank you."

-Bruce Springsteen

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Wings For Wheels

"Thunder Road" is my favourite song by Springsteen. Well, It's basically my favourite song by anyone.

But before "Thunder Road", came "Wings For Wheels". We only have the live versions. Is it really a great song? I don't know. I don't care! The important thing is the energy! If you want to know where The Boss finds all his energy, it's in this SONG!

You can hear his young excited mind whirring up and whizzing by and firing out into the world through this song. You can hear it in the whole band. There is no way they could have performed songs like this and NOT ended up as one of the greatest bands ever.

"Now the season's over and I feel it getting cold,

I wish I could take you to some sandy beach where we'd never grow old,

Ah but baby you know thats just jive,

But tonight's bustin' open and I'M ALIVE"

That line just kills me, in a GREAT WAY. BUT TONIGHT'S BUSTIN' OPEN AND I'M ALIVE!

This was Springsteen in the 70's. "Thunder Road" went on to be one of the greatest and most loved songs ever written. But this came first. This was "Thunder Road" before it was "Thunder Road." 

Makes you think about all the times you didn't quite nail it and wanted to ditch your work. It's important to remember you don't make your greatest hits right out of the gate, you gotta create a whole life's worth of junk first. 

But here's the thing. The junk ain't junk. "Wings For Wheels" has a magic that is undeniable. The energy and the vision and the idealism and the beauty; it screams through your speakers and makes you want to wake up in the 1970's at a concert, as part of a small group of people who really got to be a part of something.

That's all we want in life, to be a part of something. To matter.

"Wings For Wheels" matters. The scraps of junk you create on the road to your masterpieces, they matter. They're pieces of you. Probably bigger pieces than you realise. And the people who dig these pieces will dig everything you do. It's like the girlfriend who likes all the things about you that everyone else finds insufferable. You reach people by just putting yourself out there; by saying TONIGHT'S BUSTIN' OPEN AND I'M ALIVE!

"And maybe I can't lay the stars at your feet,
But I got this old car and she's pretty tough to beat."

That could be a metaphor for Springsteen's career. He beat everyone. He did it honestly, with integrity, and he outlasted all the other acts. He doesn't top the charts, but he sells out every venue he plays, all around the world. His fans are obsessed. It's a religion. 

And I'm telling you right now; if he played "Wings For Wheels" at a concert, the roof would explode. And if the gig was outdoors we'd all build a roof over it just to prove how powerful the moment was. 

I can feel all of Bruce Springsteen's career in this song. I can feel my own too. That's what the best songs do -- they sound like you, they encourage you, they ARE you. I don't have the creativity or the genius or the magic of Bruce Springsteen; but when you really really delve into a song you love, a song that makes you want to jump up and scream and run and write and dream and see and believe -- you think, even if just for a moment; WHY NOT? Why can't I achieve greatness? 

That is why I Love Bruce Springsteen. 

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'The Artist's Voice' - FREE Kid In The Front Row E-Book

I have just published my first e-book. It's called 'The Artist's Voice' - and is written as a tool to help you get past your creative blocks and all those little ways we sabotage our work when it comes to doing what we love: creating art.

You can download it at this link. The e-book is FREE to all and I encourage you to share it with as many people as you can. Download it, print it, email it to friends, stick it on your kindle; my only hope for the book is that it gets out there into the world and helps a few people with their creativity.

This is the first e-book I have published through the blog; so I am really interested in your feedback, too. Thanks all! Have a great new year!

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Catching The Wave

A spark can come from anywhere. Being an artist is not just about producing the art, but learning how to catch it, bottle it, and release it. I would imagine there isn't a writer reading this who hasn't often had the experience of profound insight, followed by a horrific attempt at getting it down on the page. 

Art touches us the most when it captures a piece of who we are on the page, the screen, the stage, the canvas. But how does the artist get it there? This is perhaps the hardest thing of all. That's why artists aren't impressed when someone says "I have an idea". We all have ideas. The professional gets it down on the page. 

But I don't mean professional in a traditional sense. This isn't about the discipline of starting your masterpiece every morning at 9am. This is about catching the waves however they may come.

It's as if there are thousands of spirits floating up in the sky; some of them are beautiful and hazy, some are like fierce rockets. You have to be a martial artist, adept at attracting the falling stars.

The information is in the moment. Remember your first kiss? First job offer? Remember when someone you love died? Remember when your favorite team scored? Remember when you were fired? They carry the juice. But how to get into those feelings? How to indulge in them, enjoy them, and then turn them into your art? 

It doesn't have to be the signposted life moments that provide the juice. The quieter moments are often more profound. Ever been sitting in the garden staring up at the night time sky, and felt a big wave of the essence of yourself and life? That feeling is unique to you. That essence you need to get into your art. 

There are times when I write in a very purposeful and disciplined way, like my recent post about Bridesmaids. Sometimes I just catch a feeling and write from that place in me, like with new york gone. The feeling came without capital letters, without traditional sentencing, it was like a wave, a memory, a feeling. I tried to capture that.

and the last time i left new york i left all my favourite people. and the guy who showed me around queens moved to la and the guy from the plane could be anywhere now and me and the artist kinda fell out and the girl who waited for me that time in jfk packed up her bags and got gone across the world and now i could go back, and i will go back, but so much is gone.

Sometimes you need to be open to exploring the wilderness, to not block any thought that comes, to jump on the wave and see where it goes. Those moments are often the most truthful.

But the thing about my New York post is that it didn't resonate with many people, even though it did resonate with me. This is where you see your own limitations as an artist, or perhaps a lack of experience. It takes people ten, twenty or thirty years to be great. It's a balancing act -- matching your insights with skills and understanding. 

There's so much in those extremities. The misery. The hope. The excitement. The romance. The depression. The confusion. There's gold to be mined -- but you can't be too disciplined or writerly about it, because then you miss it! Or crush it! Or scare it away! You need to deeply experience things for them to be of any true use. 

That's the problem with blogs. The writers get addicted to their followers, addicted to the comments, comforted by their place on the interweb. The posts become by-the-numbers, shop-front-profound but never quite real. 

It's a thing we all struggle with, staying true, capturing the real essence of the life we're going through. That's why we admire the greats, they lived life and reflected it back to us. The geniuses did it again and again. 

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Emails From The Front Row

Here's an email I received. I have linked to the things that the writer quoted of mine. I had to share this because it made my heart get all excited and fulfilled and happy. 

Dear Kid,

I'm Val, one of the 2 film-makers cycling around the world - collecting, sharing and inspiring stories of people's dreams. My partner, Tay, wrote you a while back ("Shared Dreams"). I've been meaning to write you a personal note because something in your writing struck a chord so deep within, I am often left speechless and wouldn't know how to react, until at least a couple of days later.

Often I'd find myself spontaneously exclaiming to Tay, "You know what Kid said the other day? That Adventureland was a film that 'dared to be small...dared to have heart'. Doesn't that make your heart pound harder, knowing that our heartfelt works would matter to at least one more person - like him?" Tay would smile, and sometimes reply, "You realise this only now?"

I did. And it was only in the wee hours of last night when I was reading one of your entries, "When you allow yourself to be who you are", when I read and re-read what you wrote: 'Find a place; be it a physical place or a mental place inside yourself - and be who you are' ; that I realised that this is my place. I mean, Kid's blog is my playground to be me. Your matter-of-fact; sometimes even nonchalant prose, verse, scripts, outbursts...they all made me feel safe to be myself. More than that, they created and expanded a space for me to be myself. To be the actor I want to be.

On this journey, when things go crazy and "The Days Got Busy", I read about how you try to answer other people's interviews, how you, too, are only human, and I am reminded that 'everyone is learning how to get back to being who they are'; and I ground myself back to the center core of why I am even on this journey in the first place.

Almost everyone we meet on this journey have something to say about how we should be doing it, how we are not playing it big enough, how I should be enrolling into an acting school if acting is my dream etc etc etc. Sometimes, I say to them, "You know what? You're right." And they are left speechless. I felt like telling them, "You're right because we're not yet successful. We're working on it. And 'when we've mastered our work, mastered us, and showed everyone else who we (truly) are, you will see yourselves'...in us. And you will applaud us for Following Our Own Path."

Kid, I want to be a worldwide famous, internationally acclaimed actress. The kind that wins awards at Cannes and Oscars. I want to because I want as many people as possible to connect with themselves - by me being a mirror for their reflections, by my acting to struck hidden shords of songs tucked away in their hearts, in their bodies, in their beings.

I'm Asian, I'm small (barely 1.5m), I'm turning 27 this year yet I permanently look 15. And I never thought any of the above would be vaguely possible, I never had the guts to share any of this anywhere, until I read 'If you follow your vision, believe in it, and do it, who knows.. you might just end up with an academy award, and if you don't - at least you'll have been among the very few who had the tenacity to try.'

Until I realised that there are people like you out there, when watching films like Adventureland, notice. You notice that 'Watching Eisenberg and Stewart in this movie; we get to really see the characters, we get to really feel something real; and as a result, we get to see ourselves.' That is so precious.

The short film, "LISTEN" that Tay shared with you was a birthday present from both of us to me last year. This year, other than embarking on another short on this journey, I am also gifting myself this note to you. I figured, if it's films that tell a good story, films that provides mirrors for being to reflect on, films made with heart, with art, that I want to act in, it only make sense for me to connect with film-makers who want the same thing and ask them for opportunities.

Kid, you begin your blog with, 'When I watch a film the main thing I am looking for is a good story. I like it when I look up at the big screen and can see a part of me staring back at me.' I would like to be the actor on that screen who gives you a wink right at that moment when you discover who it is that you are really watching.

"I have a dream -
to show the world the beautiful colors of emotions on the big movie screen of life."

Warmly,
Val

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Writing To Budget: Make Opportunities Out Of Limitations

You hear people say things like "I'd never shoot on anything less than a Canon 5D" or "I only work with a Red camera". While it is exciting to work with great cameras, you may find you can't afford them. Even when you can afford the rental fees, it may be that your editing system cannot handle the files.

These limitations are often daunting for new filmmakers -- but I'm here to say, don't let it stop you making a film.

Nobody wants to shoot on DV any more. People look down on it. They shot "Once" and "28 Days Later" on Mini-DV. If it's good enough for John Carney and Danny Boyle, I'm sure you'll be fine with your short movie.

Sure, maybe you want the cinematic look you get with the Red, or the beautiful crispness you get with a 5D. But this is a post for those who don't have those privileges right at this moment.

The Indie filmmaking wisdom is, of course, "shoot with whatever you can get your hands on". This is great advice but you need to take it in the right way. Most people hear that as "do the best you can" -- but I think you need to see it more as: "this is a wonderful opportunity!"

You or someone you know has a video phone. That's good enough to get started and make some films.

Here's a tip: don't pretend it's a film camera. Don't try to hide the fact you have no crew. Instead, embrace what you have and make it part of your story.

Here's some ideas off the top of my head that could inspire ideas for a smartphone-video film.

-The world is about to end and two friends decide to capture the final moments.

-Two women, for fun, decide to document their dating lives with video diaries.

-A couple staying in a hotel are convinced it's haunted, so they film happenings on their phones.

-A kid decides to secretly film his parent's marriage difficulties.

They are just ideas. Let's look at the last one; a kid films his parents arguing. The story could be the same as a bigger budget film about divorce, but filmed with just a phone it'll have a rawness and truthfulness. Plus it's filmed from the point of view of the child, which could be heartbreaking.

If you like horror, look at Blair Witch and Paranormal Activity, those types of ideas you can film on your phone.

Same goes for any camera. What if all you have is your Uncle's old camera which has a broken lense? Use it! Make up a story where the characters document what happened using a broken camera.

These restraints are wonderful opportunities to overcome limitations. Use your imagination!

Films are made everyday on big beautiful cameras. But guess what? A lot of them are BAD. Equipment quality has nothing to do with how good you are at telling a story.

So go tell a story.

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Finding Yourself As An Artist and Surpassing Blocks and Disturbances

Your agent is sitting on his ass. Your producer is strangling your creativity. Your co-writer is making negative remarks about your dialogue. 

Regardless of your success levels, everyone has these problems. The problem is that these issues come home with you, they eat away at your energy, they affect your life and creativity in a big way. Too often we forget about the dreaming behind our creativity and focus too much on the disturbances. 

Your dreams and aspirations are the guiding principle behind why you are an artist. It's important to get in touch with them as often as you can, because they really help keep you on the right path. 

We all have peak experiences -- when we are firing on all cylinders, and nothing can stop us. We feel happier, lighter, and our artistic selves are prospering. And there are other times when we're refusing to get out of bed, we tell everyone we're thinking of quitting, and we convince ourselves that we're talentless and that our work is embarrassing. 

Focus on your peak experiences. Can you remember a time when you felt fully alive and full of possibilities? FOCUS on that experience. Fully bring it alive in your memory. Stop reading for a second, and truly visualise it. 

Where were you? Who was there? How did you talk to people? Did it feel like there was a presence or a force supporting you? (Call it God, call it a good caffeine rush, whatever it was, for you). If you are able to strongly visualise this pleasing memory, it will make you feel good, you'll get some of those feelings back.

I have had many of these experiences. Many of them are from when I was a teenager and began making films. I was full of possibilities, extremely experimental, and everything made sense every time I wrote on a page, or pointed a camera at actors. 

Another time was in New York a few years ago. I felt super-powered. Like New York is my spiritual home and the world wanted me to be there. I would walk out of the apartment I was staying in and within five minutes I'd make a new friend, a new creative soulmate, it seemed to happen nearly every day. It was a magic time; the world seemed to work for me in every way. 
When was your peak experience? How did it make you feel? 

When you feel that you are fully in that experience, that you are not only remembering it but you are feeling some of its essence in you now --- how can you use that feeling in your work right now, today? Does that energy help you overcome some of the blocks and resistance you have been feeling? 

Let me know how it goes. 

What we have a tendency to do, is focus our energies on the roadblocks, whether they are external problems (i.e. investors, landlords, YouTube comments) or internal (lack of confidence, second-guessing, depression). This exercise is to help you get back some positive energy, by focusing on the dreaming processes that shape who you are as an artist, and what your goals and intentions are).

As a way of ending the exercise; it is good to write down a few words about yourself and your work, and the dreaming behind it. For example, I could write, "I have always strongly related to the work of writer/directors like Chaplin, Wilder, and Woody Allen, whose work as artists created meaning for themselves and the world around them. I believe that art lives forever and that my dream is to create work that will last, that will cheer people up and brighten their days for a long time to come."

Don't allow yourself to be critical or embarrassed about what you write, because it's a part of you and it's important to bring it out in you. An actress friend of mine yesterday was telling me about how she wants to work with disabled people to help give them a voice by using drama, another friend of mine was telling me a few days back about how books helped him understand the world when he was a kid, in a way that nothing else ever had -- and he wants to be an author so that he can bring that same feeling to future generations. 

Our dreams are important. When we fully access them, own them, and believe in them, we are able to step forward with more purpose and confidence. 

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When It Gets You

I love when something gets me. I discovered Patty Griffin a few days ago. I was on YouTube looking for something completely different-- and after clicking away and opening up tabs, it landed on one of her songs. I just knew straight away. Wow.

Here's the song I'm listening to right now.



It's new and fresh to me. But wow, she really resonates. That song has 7,000 views on YouTube. That's all it takes. You can upload a video that has only 9 views, but if it means something to you, it will mean something to someone else if and when they find it. We get so caught up in success and being discovered that we forget that it's really about this. It's about feeling something. And it's not a big thing -- it's not Johnny Depp running around on a ship or Megan Fox not wearing much in Transformers. What we're really about, is this stuff. That's why we love watching films and making films. People say they want to be 'discovered' as if they're hoping for the Spielberg phone call -- but really what people need is that one email from a girl in India who accidentally found your video when researching an assignment about rocks; and she just absolutely loves and adores the very thing you're doing. And it's not because of your camera angles, it's because of the essence of what you did. The most beautiful stuff is simple. Chaplin didn't win us over by blowing things up, he won us over by standing next to a girl and smiling.

And that's why I'm responding so strongly to Patty Griffin.




She's real. She sounds like the one who got away. Or the one you haven't met yet. Or the emotion you've yet to put into your writing. She's something you don't find a lot of when you're going about your bustling life in London or wherever it is you are. I have listened to this song, "Forgiveness" about twenty times in the last two days. I'm not at that stage of taking in the lyrics yet; I'm just taking in the feelings, and emotions and some-other-part-of-its-essence-that-i've-not-figured-out-yet. This song is gonna last a fair while for me.

Everyone I know is stressing about what their next job will be, and if they'll ever write that script, and if they'll ever get to act in a commercial, or if they'll ever get to stop acting in commercials. But they forget, we all forget --- it's about something smaller. It's about that feeling we got when Tim Robbins burrowed through that hole in his cell; it's about that little smile your favorite actress did when she picked up her Oscar, it's about that little bit of piano three and a half minutes into your favorite song. That's it! That's why we're here. We want to get closer to it. We want to touch it, and if we're blessed enough, we want to create it for other people.

Your favorite songs and movies help remind you of that. But I think it's at it's strongest when you find something new. But it has to be something that absolutely and completely agrees with the very core of who you are as a human being. It doesn't happen often. But when it does: You know about it. Like you all knew when I blogged endlessly about 'Adventureland' when I discovered it. It just agreed with everything I agree with. It presented a world back to me that I believe in, long for, and love. The same with Patti Griffin these past few days.

Let's not spend too long bitching about the stuff we don't like -- because it has a knack of absolutely consuming us. Instead we need to be hungry and chase down every thing we could possibly love like completely ruthless animals ---- because that's where the magic is. When I was a kid, I'd stay up all night recording great songs from the radio onto cassettes. When I was a teenager, I'd rent every single video that was in the rental store. That kind of goes away as you get older. I mean, a lot of people tell everyone about their passion and knowledge but deep down, by and large, it kinda calms down and we go a bit mad at ourselves for not spending as many nights and days obsessing over the things we love. 

But those places are where the magic is. It's where the fuel is that reminds you why you do what you do, and it reminds you of how perfect a film can be, or how moving a song; and it hits you like a bolt.

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